I've tried cable twice over the past four years or so, each stint lasting no more than six months. Each time, I found it more hassle DVRing, channel checking, or hunting down broadcast schedules that I canceled each time with no regrets.
Well, very few. There have been two times that I went to a friend's house to watch a live event.
As alternatives, I've watched the Olympics live streaming, downloaded whole series of tv shows (anime, out of print, and more) via BitTorrent, or explored movies on Hulu, Joost, YouTube, and other online offerings. I also have a very substantial (purchased) disc library (I still enjoy my HD-DVD player very much, thank you!). That includes box sets of great cable shows, like Rome, Deadwood, and more. Much of that has been ripped and served via my Xbox 360 to my living room.
Bottom line, I've saved at least $60 per month on cable, simplified my entertainment setup, and spent more efficient and pleasurable time in front of the tv (negligible ads!). No cable tv for me, thanks.
Also, the "higher power" thing dosen't work for atheists.
That's a choice. AFAIK, a "higher power" is simply a "power greater than yourself" and all that is suggested is "a willingness to believe". People don't necessarily have to make it into a divine being or anything other than something besides themselves. A simple friendship can be enough to start. 12 step programs are a solution to "self will run riot".
The best thing about recovery is that the only person who gets to determine if it works for them is the person themselves.
From my experience -- It is mostly from Mac owners trying to justify the money spent.
I think you gave away your bias there. Have you got metrics to substantiate your claim? There could be just as many Windows owners who can't agree on value(s).
I use both platforms. I find they each have their points of excellence.
So, if this is truly an influence from beyond the visible universe, then that would seem to me to imply FTL.
Yet, this article is not saying that we are moving differently, it is describing something that we can see very far away from us. It's the same as observing a storm event from far enough away to not feel its effects.
Now, if our solar system changed it's positive relative to our neighboring objects in space, and we were able to attribute that change of position and/or movement to the same source described in the article, then we could have the FTL discussion.
But it's still an asinine patent that is a perfect example of one of the many problems with our patent system.
I've come to think that there's an underground effort at the patent office to show how asinine the patent system is. If they grant enough ludicrous patents, some hero/knight/activist/non-politician might take up the fight to restructure the process. It's my way of finding comfort for such (patently) absurd behavior. I, for one, welcome our brilliantly subversive minions able to affect change from within a broken bureaucracy.
And, yes, I have submitted a patent on this process. Its my part in the plan.
My gut reaction to your post was that you must be a harsh parent. Of course, I could be wrong and my intent is not to attack you personally. When I read you post, though, I seemed to me that you saw this as a very black-and-white situation.
I can appreciate and support an approach likes yours when there is a clear and present danger to something I'm responsible for. The obvious solution is completely separate the elements so that there is zero interaction. Case in point, my young daughter and drugs, or myself traveling into a warring region. Those things are just not options for me right now.
But I think the China censorship issue, along with Google's participation, is a much more complex situation. I personally agree with their approach as not being involved means zero influence. Being involved is not easy or straightforward and, along with navigating the complexity of censorship, Google is navigating the complexities of a different world view amongst the Chinese from those in the West.
I find myself very grateful for those willing to play political games like this. Obviously, when a politician plays for personal gain, I'm very turned off from them. I see, at least for now, that Google is taking on a delicate situation and I laud them for it. In fact, I am willing to give a fair amount of latitude when considering their decisions until they turn towards making harmful and inherently self-serving choices.
I acknowledge your point, especially your last paragraph. In my opinion, I see this as marketing campaign funding research with a touch of public entertainment thrown in.
Your point references several pieces that may be specific or even a trend with composition, but, and I could be wrong, The Impossible Dream which will be performed is probably _not_ one of those that was written for exacting performance.
For me, classical performance is a peculiar exercise that can produce amazing examples of grace whereupon the entire orchestra guided by the conductor has an opportunity to tap into the beauty that the composer wrote down. An essential part of this is interpreting the intent of the composer and that goes beyond the written note. That takes an experiential vocabulary of imagery and emotion that I doubt ASIMO has the capacity for.
For those compositions that are to be performed exactly as transcribed, I imagine them best executed with the composer as the conductor and that the performers would achieve creeping perfection within a studio for that optimal recording. The composer would be able to more fully convey his intent as words on paper are often lacking and, regardless of craft, usually open to interpretation. Not a better or worse kind of music, but different and, perhaps, more suited to a robotic performance.
That being said, if Honda has achieved emotion in ASIMO, I look forward to learning more from this performance. In the meantime, I laud Honda's use of marketing to benefit The Power of Dreams Fund.
And believe me, in these times advocating for privacy takes as much hope as lighting a candle in a hurricane. But I'll be damned if years down the road history looks back and says my generation gave up on individual freedom for all future generations without so much as a whimper. Amen, er, hear hear, brother!
(OK, that's enough Americanos for today. I'm cutting me off.) Now _that's_ something I want Google to solve -- how to deliver tasty coffee drinks via the Intertubes.
Google's and Obama's appeal to me is that they are willing to pursue the idealism when others are not. For me, that is an invaluable attribute for a leader. After years of cynicism, I've tempered my fears a bit to be hopeful again and I believe I can trust, not only in the possibilities that these two entities offer, but also in the consequences if they fail. As another player in these dramas, our societies have proven to have serious bite when people make mistakes.
Again, citing the example of our current administration, I can _not_ believe that things can get any worse except if we continue to follow our current leaders.
People have been watching Google for a couple years now and (IMHO) they really haven't made any _consistent_ bungles that show some deep unconscionable agenda. I'm still watchful but given the choice, I'm going to lean towards them versus any other vendor for now just because they seem to have grown up with better parenting than others.
Regarding the painful side effects of beneficial actions, at least I can choose to associate myself with those that do act with principle as opposed to those that don't. Over various situations, I've found myself siding with the local merchant because the cost of doing business with the non-principled major vendor was too high to my conscience.
Interesting, yeah, that those stories are both headlines at the same time. Lots of differences to note between the two situations, though:
- both companies are very different in character and past behavior
- Google is being proactive in the matter rather than responding to threats from D.C.
I'm still willing to bet that Google is working from more idealistic principles than most and, as such, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt way more than I'd give to Comcast or most other companies. That's very true for general business with a company, but I find myself hopeful that Google will be "subversive in a good way" in loftier goals such as responsible governmental policies and/or world affairs. I can't even imagine Comcast (or most other companies) even addressing those levels of issues unless they were pressed to from a defensive posture. Sad.
More importantly, though, is why you'd give up caffeine?;-)
I read a couple of the top mod'd comments and they reminded me of the results from Google's bid for wireless space. I googled "google wireless auction" and this ("Google wireless-auction loss called possible win [ZDNet]") came up as the top hit, which led to this choice quote that _really_ got me thinking:
The auctions raised a record $19.12 billion for government coffers.
Analyzing Google's actions along the "good or evil" lines seems too blunt and, personally, I love this privacy action by Google. Some of the past results of their actions have demonstrated much more finesse than I think people give them credit for.
Speaking of finesse, I personally appreciate a more graceful and elegant solution to achieving goals. In fact, I'm curious to know if the _goals_ of Google are more subtle themselves than people tend to realize.
In counterpoint, I offer the current U.S. Administration which: 1) demonstrates little finesse, and 2) far less productivity than the costs merit.
Nah, you can't vote them out or impeach them. You have to wait for them to do something _really_ heinous, something that would impact a whole bunch of people.
Something worse than the 4,000 military personnel and the thousands of citizens that've died in Iraq.
Something worse than the civil liberties that've been compromised.
Something worse than the trillions of dollars that've been borrowed against future generations for a baseless war.
Something worse than the loss of funds to pay for education.
Nah, just wait for them to do something _really_ awful, like pay for sex.
I had known that Adrian Belew was doing some work with Trent, but I didn't realize this release was to include that music until just now (having listened to the download that I started this morning upon returning home...).
I've been geeking out on Adrian Belew lately, as I usually do when I get a chance to see him live. He's currently on tour with an amazing band and, if you can, you should (IMHO!) hurry to see them.
Disclaimers:
- I am a natural born American citizen.
- I absolutely love my country.
- My heritage is Taiwanese.
I'm saddened by how many posts have been a categoric bashing of the Chinese government. I agree that the dictatorial approach to governing people is short sighted and, often, abusive.
I can't help but think that the US has problems of its own, though, and I feel hypocritical pointing a finger at them while our own issues are so whacked. While not as obvious as abusive child labor and cultural censorship, we have a war out of control, education being shortchanged, national infrastructure crumbling, and more.
I'm often quick to blame our current administration, but they couldn't have done all the damage we're faced with. More importantly, the larger point is that we're trying our best to figure how to keep our society governed according to principles laid by our founding fathers. We're still pretty off the mark in a lot of ways, though.
I propose that, before we bash on China, we get our own house in order.
I thrive in an environment where there is freedom to speak freely, because I believe that in a fair and open forum the truth will prevail. Can I interest you in a political career? I'd vote for you just on a platform of your statement above.
For real, though. I'm quite excited that this is all regarding a purely digital product. They ended up signing with a label to produce the physical discs and packaging. If I understand the OP correctly, the performance measurements did not include purchases of the physical product.
In other words, Radiohead made the $6-$10 million on downloads only and we've yet to hear the amount made on physical disc purchases.
But it might not just be money they are looking at to determine success.
True that. Radiohead represent distinct artistic freedom and integrity to me. They also represent musically adventurous pursuits. I see this distribution effort as extending those characters to their business.
As a statement of fact, even though I'm _really_ tight on funds, I paid 5 pounds online to them, just out of solidarity.
According to this article, Alan Bell says there are additional reasons including:
For one thing, the lower prices of the players: It's good for consumers, it's good for our customer base. For another thing, HD DVD came out of the DVD Forum. The DVD Forum is very experienced at developing and managing specs. [HD DVD] was launched in a very stable way, with stable specifications, and they had specified a reference player model, so all players had to be compatible with the HDi interactivity layer, and all players had to be capable of the interactivity. So when we publish titles in the future that have interactivity, we can be assured that every HD DVD player will be able to handle this content.
Bear in mind that my comment is responding specifically to your query "Why the need for special categories?"
What I've come to understand in regards to addiction and all the "special categories", or myriad forms of behavior stemming from addiction, is that there is a singular disease, that being "addiction" and that it takes many, many forms.
Because there are no lab tests to definitive measure a person's addiction, the most successful means to qualify a person as an addict is through how unmanageable a person's life has become and how incapable a person is at controlling their addictive behavior themselves. The human mind can be incredibly brilliant in its creativity, thus it is very difficult to say definitively that Activity A is addictive while Activity B is not. It is essentially related to the person in question.
The biggest benefit in these discussion (both on Slashdot and in the AMA) are to give people in pain the opportunity to relate to others who have discovered that they have the disease of addiction and that, in their particular cases, the disease manifested itself in MMORPGs... or gambling... or porn... or eating disorders... or...
By offering a way to relate to others, we are presenting an acknowledgment of the problem which, in turn, offers some possibility of solution.
Lastly, I've come to understand that over time, the most difficult behaviors to associate with addiction were also the ones most popular or openly acceptable. I'm not a scientist, so don't shoot me, but it makes sense to me that when discussing Activity/Substance X, it's very uncomfortable to face that it is a problem for someone when their peers and/or culture glamorizes it.
Yeah, we supported IMAP and POP on occasion, exactly for the reason of supporting odd cell phones. I was the IT Manager and our department was able to support people with tools/hardware that they were more productive with. We were small enough that we didn't need to lock down hard standards with zero deviation.
CalDAV was a pain. GroupCal and AddressX from Snerdware just weren't robust enough for us to jump on board with. We took the easy (less tasteful) way out (again) by licensing Office 2004 with Entourage. Again, the alternatives that looked more elegant and stylish (not unimportant qualities) were not strong enough (yet) for us to buy into.
The overriding factor from that perspective was that there were _much_ bigger priorities to address.
I can tell you this from my experience. I wanted the most functionality I could get at the time where I could justify the cost. For better or worse, MS Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 (and the rest of the MS product line) were truly satisfying solutions to our needs. Other alternatives were going to cost significantly more (especially at that moment) in time, dollars, and loss of functionality.
In a different situation, I could justify compromising what we received for our purchase and I could have chosen a different solution set, maybe even gone purely OS X or Open Source. At the time, I couldn't afford to.
Bear in mind, I have before, during, and after, evaluated alternatives. I regret that I'm less familiar with open source solutions than I'd like to be, but I feel confident that I can provide a justifiable solution from what I _do_ know for a variety of business needs.
Slashdot Mirror
I've tried cable twice over the past four years or so, each stint lasting no more than six months. Each time, I found it more hassle DVRing, channel checking, or hunting down broadcast schedules that I canceled each time with no regrets.
Well, very few. There have been two times that I went to a friend's house to watch a live event.
As alternatives, I've watched the Olympics live streaming, downloaded whole series of tv shows (anime, out of print, and more) via BitTorrent, or explored movies on Hulu, Joost, YouTube, and other online offerings. I also have a very substantial (purchased) disc library (I still enjoy my HD-DVD player very much, thank you!). That includes box sets of great cable shows, like Rome, Deadwood, and more. Much of that has been ripped and served via my Xbox 360 to my living room.
Bottom line, I've saved at least $60 per month on cable, simplified my entertainment setup, and spent more efficient and pleasurable time in front of the tv (negligible ads!). No cable tv for me, thanks.
Not to beat a dead horse, but way back at the start of the year, Warner Brothers chose Blu-ray over HD-DVD. I thought that totally blew chunks. Thankfully, I still have the Looney Tunes Golden Collections to temper my hatred for this company.
That's a choice. AFAIK, a "higher power" is simply a "power greater than yourself" and all that is suggested is "a willingness to believe". People don't necessarily have to make it into a divine being or anything other than something besides themselves. A simple friendship can be enough to start. 12 step programs are a solution to "self will run riot".
The best thing about recovery is that the only person who gets to determine if it works for them is the person themselves.
I think you gave away your bias there. Have you got metrics to substantiate your claim? There could be just as many Windows owners who can't agree on value(s).
I use both platforms. I find they each have their points of excellence.
It takes two to fight.
The government's abilities to use finances in creative ways of thwarting science (in particular) continue to amaze me. I was just listening to a broadcast this morning on NPR (KPBS) of "These Days" which discussed various ways, both active and passive, of manipulating research counter to progress.
If you get the chance to listen to it, lemme know what you think.
So, if this is truly an influence from beyond the visible universe, then that would seem to me to imply FTL.
Yet, this article is not saying that we are moving differently, it is describing something that we can see very far away from us. It's the same as observing a storm event from far enough away to not feel its effects.
Now, if our solar system changed it's positive relative to our neighboring objects in space, and we were able to attribute that change of position and/or movement to the same source described in the article, then we could have the FTL discussion.
But it's still an asinine patent that is a perfect example of one of the many problems with our patent system.
I've come to think that there's an underground effort at the patent office to show how asinine the patent system is. If they grant enough ludicrous patents, some hero/knight/activist/non-politician might take up the fight to restructure the process. It's my way of finding comfort for such (patently) absurd behavior. I, for one, welcome our brilliantly subversive minions able to affect change from within a broken bureaucracy.
And, yes, I have submitted a patent on this process. Its my part in the plan.
My gut reaction to your post was that you must be a harsh parent. Of course, I could be wrong and my intent is not to attack you personally. When I read you post, though, I seemed to me that you saw this as a very black-and-white situation.
I can appreciate and support an approach likes yours when there is a clear and present danger to something I'm responsible for. The obvious solution is completely separate the elements so that there is zero interaction. Case in point, my young daughter and drugs, or myself traveling into a warring region. Those things are just not options for me right now.
But I think the China censorship issue, along with Google's participation, is a much more complex situation. I personally agree with their approach as not being involved means zero influence. Being involved is not easy or straightforward and, along with navigating the complexity of censorship, Google is navigating the complexities of a different world view amongst the Chinese from those in the West.
I find myself very grateful for those willing to play political games like this. Obviously, when a politician plays for personal gain, I'm very turned off from them. I see, at least for now, that Google is taking on a delicate situation and I laud them for it. In fact, I am willing to give a fair amount of latitude when considering their decisions until they turn towards making harmful and inherently self-serving choices.
I acknowledge your point, especially your last paragraph. In my opinion, I see this as marketing campaign funding research with a touch of public entertainment thrown in.
Your point references several pieces that may be specific or even a trend with composition, but, and I could be wrong, The Impossible Dream which will be performed is probably _not_ one of those that was written for exacting performance.
For me, classical performance is a peculiar exercise that can produce amazing examples of grace whereupon the entire orchestra guided by the conductor has an opportunity to tap into the beauty that the composer wrote down. An essential part of this is interpreting the intent of the composer and that goes beyond the written note. That takes an experiential vocabulary of imagery and emotion that I doubt ASIMO has the capacity for.
For those compositions that are to be performed exactly as transcribed, I imagine them best executed with the composer as the conductor and that the performers would achieve creeping perfection within a studio for that optimal recording. The composer would be able to more fully convey his intent as words on paper are often lacking and, regardless of craft, usually open to interpretation. Not a better or worse kind of music, but different and, perhaps, more suited to a robotic performance.
That being said, if Honda has achieved emotion in ASIMO, I look forward to learning more from this performance. In the meantime, I laud Honda's use of marketing to benefit The Power of Dreams Fund.
...that I think we can all live by:
Trust, but verify. [Wiki]
I'd buy _that_ for a dollar!
I covet your AeroPress.
Google's and Obama's appeal to me is that they are willing to pursue the idealism when others are not. For me, that is an invaluable attribute for a leader. After years of cynicism, I've tempered my fears a bit to be hopeful again and I believe I can trust, not only in the possibilities that these two entities offer, but also in the consequences if they fail. As another player in these dramas, our societies have proven to have serious bite when people make mistakes.
Again, citing the example of our current administration, I can _not_ believe that things can get any worse except if we continue to follow our current leaders.
People have been watching Google for a couple years now and (IMHO) they really haven't made any _consistent_ bungles that show some deep unconscionable agenda. I'm still watchful but given the choice, I'm going to lean towards them versus any other vendor for now just because they seem to have grown up with better parenting than others.
Regarding the painful side effects of beneficial actions, at least I can choose to associate myself with those that do act with principle as opposed to those that don't. Over various situations, I've found myself siding with the local merchant because the cost of doing business with the non-principled major vendor was too high to my conscience.
Interesting, yeah, that those stories are both headlines at the same time. Lots of differences to note between the two situations, though:
;-)
- both companies are very different in character and past behavior
- Google is being proactive in the matter rather than responding to threats from D.C.
I'm still willing to bet that Google is working from more idealistic principles than most and, as such, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt way more than I'd give to Comcast or most other companies. That's very true for general business with a company, but I find myself hopeful that Google will be "subversive in a good way" in loftier goals such as responsible governmental policies and/or world affairs. I can't even imagine Comcast (or most other companies) even addressing those levels of issues unless they were pressed to from a defensive posture. Sad.
More importantly, though, is why you'd give up caffeine?
Speaking of finesse, I personally appreciate a more graceful and elegant solution to achieving goals. In fact, I'm curious to know if the _goals_ of Google are more subtle themselves than people tend to realize.
In counterpoint, I offer the current U.S. Administration which: 1) demonstrates little finesse, and 2) far less productivity than the costs merit.
Nah, you can't vote them out or impeach them. You have to wait for them to do something _really_ heinous, something that would impact a whole bunch of people.
Something worse than the 4,000 military personnel and the thousands of citizens that've died in Iraq.
Something worse than the civil liberties that've been compromised.
Something worse than the trillions of dollars that've been borrowed against future generations for a baseless war.
Something worse than the loss of funds to pay for education.
Nah, just wait for them to do something _really_ awful, like pay for sex.
I had known that Adrian Belew was doing some work with Trent, but I didn't realize this release was to include that music until just now (having listened to the download that I started this morning upon returning home...).
I've been geeking out on Adrian Belew lately, as I usually do when I get a chance to see him live. He's currently on tour with an amazing band and, if you can, you should (IMHO!) hurry to see them.
Here's some media from my time last week:
Pics from The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and the Belly Up in Solana Beach.
Videos from the Belly Up (1) (2) (3) on YouTube.
A recording I made from the Belly Up on a digital voice recorder (via Mininova).
Listen, look, (hopefully) enjoy, then try and see them before the tour finishes. This Power Trio is amazing!
Here's some tour info as well.
Disclaimers:
- I am a natural born American citizen.
- I absolutely love my country.
- My heritage is Taiwanese.
I'm saddened by how many posts have been a categoric bashing of the Chinese government. I agree that the dictatorial approach to governing people is short sighted and, often, abusive.
I can't help but think that the US has problems of its own, though, and I feel hypocritical pointing a finger at them while our own issues are so whacked. While not as obvious as abusive child labor and cultural censorship, we have a war out of control, education being shortchanged, national infrastructure crumbling, and more.
I'm often quick to blame our current administration, but they couldn't have done all the damage we're faced with. More importantly, the larger point is that we're trying our best to figure how to keep our society governed according to principles laid by our founding fathers. We're still pretty off the mark in a lot of ways, though.
I propose that, before we bash on China, we get our own house in order.
For real, though. I'm quite excited that this is all regarding a purely digital product. They ended up signing with a label to produce the physical discs and packaging. If I understand the OP correctly, the performance measurements did not include purchases of the physical product.
In other words, Radiohead made the $6-$10 million on downloads only and we've yet to hear the amount made on physical disc purchases.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
True that. Radiohead represent distinct artistic freedom and integrity to me. They also represent musically adventurous pursuits. I see this distribution effort as extending those characters to their business.
As a statement of fact, even though I'm _really_ tight on funds, I paid 5 pounds online to them, just out of solidarity.
Bear in mind that my comment is responding specifically to your query "Why the need for special categories?"
What I've come to understand in regards to addiction and all the "special categories", or myriad forms of behavior stemming from addiction, is that there is a singular disease, that being "addiction" and that it takes many, many forms.
Because there are no lab tests to definitive measure a person's addiction, the most successful means to qualify a person as an addict is through how unmanageable a person's life has become and how incapable a person is at controlling their addictive behavior themselves. The human mind can be incredibly brilliant in its creativity, thus it is very difficult to say definitively that Activity A is addictive while Activity B is not. It is essentially related to the person in question.
The biggest benefit in these discussion (both on Slashdot and in the AMA) are to give people in pain the opportunity to relate to others who have discovered that they have the disease of addiction and that, in their particular cases, the disease manifested itself in MMORPGs... or gambling... or porn... or eating disorders... or...
By offering a way to relate to others, we are presenting an acknowledgment of the problem which, in turn, offers some possibility of solution.
Lastly, I've come to understand that over time, the most difficult behaviors to associate with addiction were also the ones most popular or openly acceptable. I'm not a scientist, so don't shoot me, but it makes sense to me that when discussing Activity/Substance X, it's very uncomfortable to face that it is a problem for someone when their peers and/or culture glamorizes it.
Yeah, we supported IMAP and POP on occasion, exactly for the reason of supporting odd cell phones. I was the IT Manager and our department was able to support people with tools/hardware that they were more productive with. We were small enough that we didn't need to lock down hard standards with zero deviation.
CalDAV was a pain. GroupCal and AddressX from Snerdware just weren't robust enough for us to jump on board with. We took the easy (less tasteful) way out (again) by licensing Office 2004 with Entourage. Again, the alternatives that looked more elegant and stylish (not unimportant qualities) were not strong enough (yet) for us to buy into.
The overriding factor from that perspective was that there were _much_ bigger priorities to address.
I can tell you this from my experience. I wanted the most functionality I could get at the time where I could justify the cost. For better or worse, MS Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 (and the rest of the MS product line) were truly satisfying solutions to our needs. Other alternatives were going to cost significantly more (especially at that moment) in time, dollars, and loss of functionality.
In a different situation, I could justify compromising what we received for our purchase and I could have chosen a different solution set, maybe even gone purely OS X or Open Source. At the time, I couldn't afford to.
Bear in mind, I have before, during, and after, evaluated alternatives. I regret that I'm less familiar with open source solutions than I'd like to be, but I feel confident that I can provide a justifiable solution from what I _do_ know for a variety of business needs.